Accor said it planned to develop five other properties - Novotel Dalat, Novotel Da Nang Han River, Novotel Phu Quoc Resort, Novotel Saigon Center, and the newly-announced Novotel Ciputra Hanoi to meet the needs of leisure and business travelers for 4-star facilities and services.

As international visitor arrivals in Vietnam are on the rise, with the figure in the first seven months of this year rising 17.3% year-on-year to 3.42 million, Accor aims to have at least one Novotel hotel for leisure and family-oriented guests in each major city in Vietnam.

Accor said it had just clinched a management contract with Citra Westlake City Development Co. Ltd. to develop Novotel Ciputra Hanoi.

With construction set for completion in late 2013, this hotel will have 250 guest rooms plus Novotel’s signature restaurant “The Square”, a lobby bar, a 500-square-meter function hall, several meeting rooms, a swimming pool, and a spa and fitness center.

Also scheduled for completion next year or later, Novotel Saigon Center on the corner of Hai Ba Trung and Nguyen Dinh Chieu streets will provide the market with more than 250 guest rooms as well as meeting, food and beverage facilities.

This project has an initial investment capital of around US$28 million.

Accor now manages more than 2,000 guest rooms at hotels under the luxury Sofitel brand, the upscale MGallery, and the mid-range Mercure and Novotel in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Phan Thiet, Nha Trang, Halong and other parts of Vietnam.

The largest international operator of hotels in Vietnam is looking to operate at least 3,700 new hotel rooms of different grades in the next three years. The new Accor-managed hotels to go online in the coming years will also bear the group’s brands Pullman and ibis.